Rome Legal Issues Blog

According to statistics, the number of medical malpractice claims which get paid has been steadily on the decline since they peaked in 2001. For example, in 2017, and among all medical professionals, there were just over 10,000 paid claims. In 1991, the number was much closer to 20,000.

Likewise, particularly when adjusted for inflation, the total dollar amount paid to resolve medical malpractice claims has fallen steadily, going from over $6 billion in 2001 down to under $4 billion in 2017.

A manufacturer of hip implants, Smith & Nephew, is facing serious scrutiny for the way it made some of its hip replacement devices. A Northern Georgia resident who had hip replacement surgery or even a partial hip replacement between 2006 and 2015 may have a Smith & Nephew product in her body.

The problem with these products is that their lining simply does not stand the test of time. Without the lining, however, the metal parts of the hip implant will start to grind against each other. When they do, it can serious complications for the patient.

Few things change your life as much as a traumatic brain injury. The potential for life-altering injuries that never heal is incredibly great. The injury itself could take just a split second -- a surgeon makes a mistake while doing surgery, for instance, or another driver runs a red light and T-bones your car -- but you may never fully heal and you may have to deal with that injury forever.

To understand this risk, let's take a look at some of the key statistics from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons:

• 5.3 million: The number of people in the United States who live with a TBI-related disability.
• 1.7 million: The number of new TBI cases that happen every single year in America alone.
• $48-56 billion: The cost of all of the TBIs in the United States every year. This number includes both the direct costs and the indirect costs.
• 78.8%: The percentage of men who suffer traumatic brain injuries, as compared to just 21.2 percent for women.
• 235,000: The approximate number of TBI-related annual hospitalizations. It is important to note that, as devastating as spinal cord injuries can be, there are over 20 times as many hospitalizations for TBIs.
• 435,000: The number of emergency room visits for TBIs that are made for children who are 14 years old and younger.
• 2,685: The number of children from the above group who pass away from their injuries.
• 80,000-90,000: The number of Americans every year who suffer TBIs and see the onset of disabilities that are either life-long or at least long-term.
• 34%: The percentage of traumatic deaths that get attributed to head injuries on a yearly basis.

There are actually two ways in which a manufacturer of a medical device, including infamous ones like certain types of hip implants and vaginal mesh, can get permission from the Food and Drug Administration to market it to the public.

One way is to submit the device to a formal approval process, in which case the device can be marketed as FDA Approved. What this means is that the device has gone through a time of great scrutiny and, presumably, a battery of tests that should verify that the device is safe for consumer in Northern Georgia and elsewhere.